Mike Waltz: US offered to sell Iran uranium for civilian programme

What the report says

The United States offered to sell Iran uranium for a civilian nuclear programme during earlier negotiations intended to end the war between the two countries, according to remarks by US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz. Speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press, Waltz said Iran rejected the idea, which he compared to civilian nuclear arrangements the US has with other states that operate under international inspections and non-proliferation rules.

Waltz said the Trump administration was willing to let Iran keep a peaceful nuclear programme if Tehran complied with its obligations under international law and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. He also said Washington was open to several options for preventing Iran from regaining access to highly enriched uranium, including having Iran hand over any such material it already possesses.

The Al Jazeera report places the comments in the wider dispute over Iran’s nuclear activities and the status of its uranium stockpile. Iran says it does not seek nuclear weapons and uses uranium for electricity, medicine and research, while the US and the International Atomic Energy Agency have raised concerns about enrichment levels and access to facilities. The article also notes that Iran’s nuclear talks with the US have been shaped by the collapse of the 2015 nuclear deal and by later military strikes on Iranian sites.